You read that right! After 3+ years of wonderful memories and amazing projects, I've decided to move on to a bigger boat with features that match my cruising style a bit more.
I love Rendezvous, and have spent countless hours on things like upgrading my battery bank to LiFePO4, a new fresh water system and toilets, and other things like docking and engine room cameras, and will miss a lot of those conveniences. But I also look forward to new challenges on a new boat!
If you're curious about her and have more questions, please feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to chat about the boat, systems and projects.
Here are a few things that come with or are part of Rendezvous sale. The full list is in the listing above:
- Operations Manual - I've written an extensive manual on how to use all of her systems. This includes startup and shutdown processes for engines, generator, electrical system, watermaker, and more.
- Internet system - Peplink MAX HD2 router with 2x cellular modems, 2x Poynting OMNI-402 cellular antennas, 2x Poynting OMNI-496 WiFI antennas, and an indoor Peplink AP One access point. This system is ready for dual cellular + WiFi access throughout the entire boat.
- Electrical system - 800 amp hours of LiFePO4 batteries, 2x 175 AMP alternators with Wakespeed regulators, 3000W Victron inverter, and an additional 70 amp charger while using the generator to charge. This system is built to run the boat 24-36 hours without charging, and to charge back up in 2 hours or less.
- Heating system - new ITR Hurricane Chinook hydronic heater with 3 zones and 5 fan heaters throughout all cabins. It also provides instant hot water 24x7 (even in the summer) and is quiet and efficient.
- Systems in general - I've used this boat every day for 3+ years and have fine tuned all of the systems to be as reliable as possible. This includes little things like removing the horrific shower sump that we're all used to, and replacing it with a Whale Gulper pump, or by adding UV filtered drinking water, or push button toilet controls. The systems have been used and maintained, and tweaked to be comfortable and reliable.
- Training - I would be happy to spend an hour or a day taking a new owner through all of the systems, going out for a cruise, and whatever else helps them get used to Rendezvous.
There are a number of things I've written about that won't come with her, and that is because those systems are either very complex, and would be difficult for a new owner to maintain (no one needs 5 remote monitoring systems on a boat!), or they were systems that I have to continue testing with in some way. Those items have been removed, but what is still aboard is considerable and will serve someone well into the future.
Why Sell?
The biggest reason I am selling Rendezvous is because of the change in my cruising plans. In the last 6 years, I spent a considerable amount of time away from the home port and underway. In 2020 even with the Canadian border closed, I was at anchor for 175 days, and away from the home port more than 200. In 2021 I have similar stats, and lots of time out in crappy weather.
This means a lot more time underway, at anchor, and using the boat while out and about. There were three main areas that I wanted to improve because of this change - the driving location/setup, layout, and stability underway.
Pilothouse
When I first started looking in 2018 for something in the power world, my requirements included a good flybridge driving station, among other things. I even mentioned that in my Sailing towards power article below.
Steve Mitchell
I love the flybridge on Rendezvous, but since I cruise year round that can be an added complexity. What was more of a challenge was visibility in poor weather and moving back and forth.
Visibility was a challenge with rain, although not too bad. I looked at adding a wiper to the flybridge, but that would have reduced the ability to open the front middle panel of the canvas/glass which we did a lot in the summer for ventilation.
The bigger challenge for visibility in the flybridge was mist and condensation. In fall and winter around here, everything mists up overnight, and it was very time consuming to have to clean everything, if you could even do that, before getting underway in the mornings.
In addition, moving back and forth between the flybridge, down 3 steps, and then around the back deck, down 4 more steps into the cabin, wasn't really safe in some of the sea conditions I was in - keep in mind that I am alone most of my time on the water.
Not only would a pilothouse be better for year round cruising in the PNW, but it has a whole heck of a lot more space for electronics and the sort of things I want to build and showcase. I knew this when I bought Rendezvous, but I thought that I would be OK with her layout and setup for the longer term.
To be clear, the salon driving station isn't unusable - I use it a lot in the winter and rainy seasons (no jokes about Seattle weather!) and even in the summer, I usually spend about 25% of my time driving from there. It's a great spot to stand right in the middle of the boat to see where you're going - sitting all day in the flybridge isn't the greatest for my back health. I also added newer windshield wipers and motors when I bought Rendezvous, so in crappy weather it is one of my primary spots to drive from. But of course the visibility is better on the flybridge.
Stability
Rendezvous is 46' LOA, and almost a 14 foot beam and weighs in at 31,000 pounds when fully fueled and loaded with all of my junk. Underway at normal cruising speeds of 9-11 knots she is very stable. At slower trawler speeds she is OK, but if you're in nasty weather with the seas beam-on, you definitely have to go faster to keep things more stable.
Because I cruise year round, I end up seeing more weather, waves, and situations than an average recreational boater. I am also very, very prone to getting seasick - I have been my whole life, and have written about things like the ReliefBand and other methods that help me.
I have always wanted a boat with stabilization while underway, and I miss some of the stability that came from a sailboat while at anchor. Trying to add stabilizers to Rendezvous would have been expensive, and there just isn't the space or structure for them.
Seriously, I get sick very easily, so trying to find a boat with some sort of stabilization was high on my list.
Space
The layout on Rendezvous is really good, but I wanted to tweak it. The back deck was one of our favorite spots in the summer, but barely gets used in the winter, so having a more covered cockpit / flybridge / back deck was pretty important in a new boat.
In addition, having less or zero steps from when you step aboard into the living and driving spaces was really important. Since I am on the boat single handing most of the time, having to go up and down lots of steps to and from places was less desirable.
What's Next?
I'm not ready to reveal all of the details yet, but I have found a new boat and am in the purchase process. It has all of the stuff above plus more, and I'm very excited to start the next chapter of my boating life.
The new boat does have a pilot house, better access to various spaces underway, and lots more space for electronics, electrical projects, and of course, internet connectivity and testing. As soon as I get past the superstitious stage, and have things finalized, I will definitely share more details!
Ocean Alexander
